Cheat Sheet

French Verbs For Dummies

If you’re studying French, you need to get a handle on French verbs. Luckily, there’s a pattern to conjugating regular French verbs into the simple and compound tenses, so once you know how to conjugate one, you know hundreds! Learn how to give commands, directions, or requests by studying the imperative conjugations of French verbs.

Conjugating the Simple Tenses of Regular French Verbs

If the infinitive of a regular French verb ends in -er, -ir, or -re, you can follow a fixed pattern in conjugating the verb. If you learn to conjugate one verb in each of the groups, you will know how to conjugate hundreds of others. The following chart has the conjugation of the five simple tenses of three common regular verbs: parler (to speak), finir (to finish), and vendre (to sell). Just take the appropriate stem for each tense and add the required ending.

Regular -er Verb Endings

Tense (stem)

je

tu

il/elle/on

nous

vous

ils/elles

Present (parl)

-e

-es

-e

-ons

-ez

-ent

Imperfect (parl)

-ais

-ais

-ait

-ions

-iez

-aient

Future (parler)

-ai

-as

-a

-ons

-ez

-ont

Conditional (parler)

-ais

-ais

-ait

-ions

-iez

-aient

Subjunctive (parl)

-e

-es

-e

-ions

-iez

-ent

Regular -ir Verb Endings

Tense (stem)

je

tu

il/elle/on

nous

vous

ils/elles

Present (fini)

-s

-s

-t

-ssons

-ssez

-ssent

Imperfect (finiss)

-ais

-ais

-ait

-ions

-iez

-aient

Future (finir)

-ai

-as

-a

-ons

-ez

-ont

Conditional (finir)

-ais

-ais

-ait

-ions

-iez

-aient

Subjunctive (finiss)

-e

-es

-e

-ions

-iez

-ent

Regular -re Verb Endings

Tense (stem)

je

tu

il/elle/on

nous

vous

ils/elles

Present (vend)

-s

-s

(nothing)

-ons

-ez

-ent

Imperfect (vend)

-ais

-ais

-ait

-ions

-iez

-aient

Future (vendr)

-ai

-as

-a

-ons

-ez

-ont

Conditional (vendr)

-ais

-ais

-ait

-ions

-iez

-aient

Subjunctive (vend)

-e

-es

-e

-ions

-iez

-ent

Conjugating Compound Tenses with Regular French Verbs

To conjugate French compound tenses, you need an auxiliary verb, usually avoir (to have) or être (to be), plus the past participle of the desired verb. The following example shows French compound tenses conjugated with the past participles of parler (to speak) with avoir as the auxiliary and arriver (to arrive) with être as the auxiliary.

Creating Compound Tenses with the Auxiliary Avoir (Parler)

Tense

je

tu

il/elle/on

nous

vous

ils/elles

Passé Composé

ai parlé

as parlé

a parlé

avons parlé

avez parlé

ont parlé

Pluperfect

avais parlé

avais parlé

avait parlé

avions parlé

aviez parlé

avaient parlé

Future Perfect

aurai parlé

auras parlé

aura parlé

aurons parlé

aurez parlé

auront parlé

Past Conditional

aurais parlé

aurais parlé

aurait parlé

aurions parlé

auriez parlé

auraient parlé

Past Subjunctive

aie parlé

aies parlé

ait parlé

ayons parlé

ayez parlé

aient parlé

Creating Compound Tenses with the Auxiliary Être (Arriver)

Tense

je

tu

il/elle/on

nous

vous

ils/elles

Passé Composé

suis arrivé (e)

es arrivé (e)

est arrivé (e)

sommes arrivés (es)

êtes arrivé (e)(s) (es)

sont arrivés (es)

Pluperfect

étais arrivé (e)

étais arrivé (e)

était arrivé (e)

étions arrivés (es)

étiez arrivé (e) (s) (es)

étaient arrivés (es)

Future Perfect

serai arrivé (e)

seras arrivé (e)

sera arrivé (e)

serons arrivés (es)

serez arrivé (e) (s) (es)

seront arrivés (es)

Past Conditional

serais arrivé (e)

serais arrivé (e)

serait arrivé (e)

serions arrivés (es)

seriez arrivé (e) (s) (es)

seraient arrivés (es)

Past Subjunctive

sois arrivé (e)

sois arrivé (e)

soit arrivé (e)

soyons arrivés (es)

soyez arrivé (e) (s) (es)

soient arrivés (es)

Imperative Forms of French Verbs

In French, the imperative mood expresses an order, request, or directive and is created with regular verbs by using the verb directly and eliminating the subject pronoun. The imperative uses the present tense of most verbs and the conjugations of three subject pronouns: tu (when speaking to someone familiar), vous (when speaking to someone unfamiliar, older, a group, or a superior), and nous (when including yourself in the group). Regular -er, -ir, and -re verbs follow the same pattern in commands as shown in the following example, along with an example of a command using a pronominal verb and pronoun.